Due to overtourism there is a growing demand of travelers looking for small-scale, authentic, and impactful experiences by locals in developing countries. is a platform where travelers can book local experiences and create a a sustainable source of income from traveling for locals.
I do not work for I Like Local. The views from this case study is strictly my own and is not reflective of I Like Local. In an ideal environment, I would be working at I Like Local where I would have access to the data and metrics to help influence the ideas and concepts generated. Until then, this case study is not meant to be comprehensive or exhaustive in any way.
I Like Local’s mission to inspire positive change for our planet by connecting travelers with local communities really resonated with me. As a passionate backpacker and advocate for social innovation, I picked I Like Local's Website for a spec work for my UI Design Portfolio.
“Inspire positive change for our planet by connecting travelers with local communities that provide immersive travel experiences that foster economic and social inclusiveness.”
– I Like Local
I assumed that I Like Local’s product goals are increasing the number of completed bookings, DAU, MAU, user growth rate and retention rate as well as reducing the churn rate.
75% of I Like Local’s customers are millenials who are conscious travel enthusiasts and looking for authenticity.
Millenials are digitial natives who want more control over their travel planning. They are conscious of their footprint and impact of travel.
To deeply understand the user needs, I conducted qualitative interviews with six users from the target group by using the jobs to be done framework. In those interviews I focused on the target job “discover local experiences while traveling”.
After extracting the job steps, process, desired outcome and circumstances from the interviews, I created a job map for users who want to discover local experiences while traveling:
This job map helped me discover what users are trying to get done at different points and what must happen at each juncture in order to carry out the job “discover local expierences while traveling” successfully.
To quantify the importance and satisfaction of each job step, I conducted a survey among five users where they rated each job from 1 to 5. Based on the opportunity score = importance + max(importance - satisfaction, 0), I identified the job steps “validate authenticity and support for local” and “get informed about the social impact” as areas with the highest opportunity.
Based on the results of the survey, I conducted a user test with 5 users to validate how well I Like Local help users discover local experiences while traveling.
100% of the money asked by locals is directly paid to them
4 of 5 users assume that a local receives 100% of the booking price. In reality the booking price contains 25% booking fees for I Like Local. 4 of 5 users felt that I Like Local’s promotion on the website was misleading and caused an uneasy feeling for users to trust I Like Local.
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All five interviewed users confirmed that the ethical CSR certification by third parties would help users build trust towards a booking platform such as I Like Local.
Furthermore, all five users confirmed that breaking down the price and highlighting the share which goes to I Like Local increases the transparency. However, 3/5 users pointed out that it was not clear that all “€50 x 2 participants” goes to the local.
"With the travelers that join my walk and cooking class, I am able to support my family."
For all interviewed users the few success stories on the website were not enough to trust I Like Local and motivitate them to book a travel experience on I Like Local’s website.
The solution I proposed here to measure the impact on a local helped all 5 interviewed users to build rapport with locals and the impact a booking would have on a local.
However, 4/5 users pointed out that this solution does not fully meet the user need of getting informed about the impact on a local they are making with a booking. This would need more user research and ideation workshops with various stakeholders exceeding this case study.
5/5 interviewed users stated that they primarily use the smartphone to research and book local experiences while traveling. I Like Local’s Website seems to be optimized for web applications instead of mobile first.
5/5 users complained that the usability of I Like Local could be easier and more intuitive on the smartphone.
Currently, users need to scroll down to see and access the primary action button. Recurring users want to access the primary action to explore local experiences in an easy and fast manner.
Sharp corners express a conservative and corporate feeling.
Slightly rounded buttons express a conservative and not innovative feeling.
Fully rounded buttons evoke a friendly, eye-catching feeling. They take less cognitive load than sharp-cornered buttons.
Smaller screens are more susceptible to friction. The search filter section looks crowded and is difficult to use. Putting one thing per page reduces the cognitive load and allows a clean design.
I Like Local uses dropdown to select the type of experience and date. Dropdowns on mobile devices are difficult to use due to the small screen size.
Several studies showed that avoiding dropdown on mobile devices improves execution time by 40% and reduces the chance of users abandoning an application.
I Like Local displays an error message if a user selects a date that is not available. For users it can be frustrating to not see all available dates right away making users abandoning the booking process.
In my prototype the user gets to see only available dates to avoid this kind of situation. This also reduces the overall time to finish a booking.
After finishing the high-fidelity prototype I showed the prototype to five more users to let them compare my improvements with the current I Like Local website on a mobile device.
The time of selecting an available date was faster and easier with my prototype than with I Like Local’s website on a mobile device. An overall improved user experience can increase the number of completed bookings, DAU, MAU, user growth rate and retention rate while reducing the churn rate.
Reach out on LinkedIn or via emailnhat.ha.productdesign@gmail.com
